The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth (27 page)

HMS Formidable, who has been refuelling and replacing planes at Scapa, takes on deck 24 Hurricane fighters and 18 Gladiators; these will fly from Norwegian airfields to reduce the load on the FAA. She leaves 18 of her SeaLance behind to accommodate some of the planes; these will be flown on later from the UK once the RAF planes have been flown off.

RAF Bomber command visit Norway again. This time 14 aircraft are used. A single aircraft was sent to bomb shipping in Oslofjord, but does not return. The Navy is scathing at the ideas of the RAF with regard to sinking shipping. Unfortunately Oslo is too far inside German air cover to strike from the carriers without exposing the fleet to a serious bombing attack. In view of the number of aircraft used on the 20th, this was considered too dangerous with regard to any benefits obtained.

The 148th Brigade wa
s attacked for the first time by tanks, which cut off a considerable part of the force. As a result the Brigade was forced to retire north towards Andalsnes. The 15th Brigade was landed at Andalsnes to reinforce and cover them.

The attack pressed
on Trondheim, and during the night the resistance faded away. While the defenders have proved more efficient and better soldiers than their attackers, they have basically run out of ammunition. A small rearguard is left to cover as the bulk of the German mountain troops scatter into the countryside to hopefully retire to their advancing formations - in fact the bulk of these highly trained men will make it. Before they leave they also demolish much of the ports facilities, so the bulk of supplies will having to be brought down from Narvik.

HMS Formidable left
for Norway with the RAF fighters on board. The Gladiators will be flown off onto a frozen lake near Trondheim to give local cover; the Hurricanes are expected to use either Bodo or Narvik, which locals have been clearing of snow.

As a result of Trondheim finally being recaptured, and the presence and breakthrough of panzers furth
er south, General Ruges decided to slowly withdraw north while the troops around Trondheim prepare a defensive line for them to retire behind. It has become obvious that with the steadily increasing strength of the Germans in the air and on the ground that southern Norway cannot be held with the allied forces currently available, and this option gave him the best chance of preserving his army.

The
army landings at Andalsnes had been covered by the AA cruiser HMS Curacoa, as the army is extremely short of its own AA weapons. Her guns had been supplemented by fighter patrols when weather permits. She was caught in a heavy air raid while the fighter cover was absent and badly damaged by bombs. The fighter cover arrived in time to shoot down two Ju87's, but after temporary repairs the ship has to be escorted back to the UK for repairs.

The fleet carrier group joins HMS Formidable to cover her while she launches off the RAF planes;
Six Cormorants from the Illustrious will escort the two groups to ensure their safe arrival (the FAA is somewhat dubious about the navigation skills of the RAF pilots). They intend to conduct fighter operations over Trondheim and the surrounding area to give the RAF squadrons time to get organised. As a result they do find a formation of He-111 bombers, shooting down two and damaging a third.

The RAF raid the Norwegian a
irfields again, this time with eight aircraft. Meanwhile Blenheim bombers search some of the southern fjords, finding and sinking a medium sized merchant ship and destroying a couple of flying boats.

The British 15th Briga
de and Norwegian units forces gave fierce resistance in the Gudbrondsdal but fell back slowly as planned. The 15th is a regular army brigade, with antitank guns, and is a much tougher proposition than the 148th Brigade. The defence is not helped by constant German air attacks; it is hoped that on the following day the RAF fighters can provide more cover. The Navy promises (weather permitting) some air operations which it is hoped will divert the Germans and ease the pressure on the Army

The RAF bombs Stavanger airfield and fjord, and oil tanks and a refinery at Vallo and Grisbeu.

As the RAF fighters are now operation, the fleet carriers mount an attack on Aalsund - 24 SeaLance acting as bombers, 18 Cormorant divebombers and 16 Goshawks as escort. Very considerable damage is done to the airfield, a number of aircraft being destoyed or damaged on the ground. The fighters encounter a force of He-111, shooting down five. One SeaLance is shot down by AA fire; the airfield will not be operation for some days. Aided by some subtle propaganda (and helped by the Army) it is noted in London that one raid by the carriers seems to have done more damage than a week or so of raids by RAF bombers (not quite true, but close enough)

Goshawks patrolling Andalsnes encounter a flight of three He-111, shooting down two and damaging one which gets away
. As a result the Luftwaffe becomes much more reluctant to send small raids north of the fighting as they are seen as far too vulnerable.

The British and Norwegian forces continue a fighting retreat north to Kjorem. The slowing of the German advance allows the faster withdrawal of some of the more exhausted Norwegian units behind friendly lines where they can rest and recover.

British and Norwegian forces continue their withdrawal north, where the troops around Trondheim were busily construction defensive positions. It is hoped to halt the German advance here where the terrain naturally bottlenecks them into a narrow front.

A combat patrol of six
Goshawks encounters a large formation of German planes about to attack a convoy heading for Trondheim. Three Ju88's are shot down. They are joined by a flight of six Hurricanes on their first air patrols (which causes some confusion as they find their radio systems won't actually talk to each other), and find themselves encountering a formation of 15 Heinkels of KGr100. Between them the FAA and RAF planes shoot down 10 of the Heinkels and damage two more. These are the older Hurricanes, with 8x0.303 guns (the newer model with 2 20mm cannon are being held in the UK), and it is interesting to the pilots to note how much more effective the cannon are at bringing down the bombers.

That evening, Germany officially declares war on Norway.

28th - 30th April.

The Allied forces finally retreat to the defensive line south of Trondheim. This is now occupied by around two divisions of troops from three countries, and as a result the Germans decide to pause to reorganise and resupply.

On the 29th HMS Glasgow evacuates King Haakon and the Norwegian government from Molde. They will arrive at Tromso on the 1st May. General Ruge is on a British destroyer. The Norwegian gold reserves are also on the cruiser.

A force of RAF Blenheim bombers reports over 150 aircraft on Stavanger airfield on the 30th. As attacks by the RAF have proved too small to be effective, the Navy is asked if they can raid the airfield. This caused some problems as to availability of carriers. HMS Victorious is currently refuelling in the UK, and Formidable and Illustrious are fully committed with running patrols over the convoys and fleet. As Venerable and Colossus are available, it is decided to send them south, escorted by HMS Renown and destroyers, close enough to conduct a strike. They currently carry 9TBR, 9DB and 9 Fighters each. The raid is planned to be 18TBR (in bomber mode), 18 DB escorted by 6 fighters (the others being retained for CAP). While this raid is seen as risky, it is hoped to catch the defenders by surprise and then steam north as soon as the strike is recovered.

Believing that the Scandinavian campaign is over, Hitler orders his generals to make their fin
al preparations for an attack in the west. He informs General Jodl and other military commanders to be prepared to launch operations on 5 May or within 24 hours of any later day.

It had been hoped to coordinate the carrier strike with the RAF, and the RAF promises to bomb the airfield again in
the afternoon. Six aircraft would bomb Stavanger in the late afternoon.

The strike from Venerable and Colossus
goes in just after dawn, as it was hoped this will catch the maximum number of planes on the ground. Since the two light carriers are uncomfortably far south of the main force, and have limited fighters, two flights of Goshawks are kept back on HMS Illustrious in case they need support.

The air strike is effective. There are indeed many aircraft on the field, and the combination of 250lb, 500lb and 20lb bombs dropped by the 39 attacking planes is thought to have destroyed at least 20 aircraft as well as doing much
damage to the facilities. Only two Me109 fighters rise to defend the base, both are shot down. One Goshawk is lost to the fighters, while a Cormorant and a SeaLance are lost to AA fire.

There is a problem, however. Shortly after the strike goes in, the main fleet finds themselves the centre of unwelcome Luftwaffe attention. A mixed force of Ju88 and Ju87 bombers makes a number of attacks in small groups, only some of which are properly intercepted by the defenders. No bombs actually comes close to the ships, and two Ju88 and a Ju87 are shot down, but it does occupy the attention of the carriers. As a result, it is not possible to add to the defences of the two light carriers further south.

Stung by the success of the carrier raid on Stavanger, the Luftwaffe is quick to respond. The two light carriers headed north as soon as they had landed on the strike force; due to an oversight, no-one had informed them that the main fleet was also under attack, and so they only kept six fighters up as air cover. At 1300 a heavy raid in two groups is detected from the east and south. The CAP is vectored onto the closest formation, and the ready planes got ready for launch. They are sent up in time to intercept the second raid, but both groups are much larger than first anticipated.

The first formation is 24 He-111 and 12 Ju88's. The fighters concentrate on the Ju88 as its dive bombing capability is seen as more dangerous. Four of the bombers are brought down, and two more driven off. The He-111's encounter the fleets AA defence, however this time they try and hold their formation. Even so, the evasive action taken by the ships is almost successful; one 250kg bomb hits HMS Renown, destroying two of her 4.5" AA mounts. The JU88's attack HMS Colossus, but although the ships AA fire is weak compared to a fleet carrier, the handling of the ship is superb and all the bombs miss. Two more of the JU-88's are destroyed as they leave the scene.

The second wave of attackers is more dangerous. This time 16 He-111 bombers accompany 24 Ju87 dive bombers. The new CAP is not yet at altitude, so attack the Ju-87's as they ascend. The Ju87 is an easy target under normal circumstances, but there is no time for a proper interception before most of them are too close to attack. The defenders shoot down or drive off five of them, but 19 of them are able to start their dives before interception.

The Ju87's are operating at a long range for them (these are not the extended range variant), and are only carrying 250kg bombs. Unfortunately while the fleet carriers are armoured against these, the light carriers only have protection above their magazine
s. Despite the presence of the fighters, the Stukas take their time in order to carry out a textbook attack on HMS Venerable. Despite the weaving of the Venerable, she is hit by a total of five bombs.

One bomb hits forward, destroying her forward elevator and causing a fire in the lift shaft. A second hits well aft, penetrating the flight deck and exploding just above her hanger deck, destroying a number of planes and causing a severe fire. The third and fourth bombs hit close to the centre of the ship, causing more damage as they pass through the hangar where one of them explodes, causing another fire, but the other bomb penetrates deeper, and the forward engineering space is rendered inoperable. It is the final bomb which does the most serious damage; although it doesn't quite hit the ship, it explodes very close to the stern in the water, damaging the propellers. The resultant vibration forces the ship to slow to no more than 5 knots. The ven
geful Goshawks shoot down four Ju87's as the flee the scene, but this is little consolation.

The Venerable is burning heavily; although RN policy is for no armed or fuelled planes in the hangers, and fuel lines are always drained when not in use, there is still
, inevitably, plenty of flammable material. The hits deep in the ship have affected the fire-fighting ability of the crew, and although the main Avgas tanks are not in any danger, the hanger fires are at first only contained, not brought under control. As Colossus is undamaged, all the airborne fighters land on her, although this does mean leaving some on deck as there isn't room in her hangers now for the planes she has on board.

The fleet commander is now faced with the decision of what to do with the Venerable. She can't make more than 5 knots, is on fire, and they are well in range of more air attacks. The fleet
carriers cannot send more than six fighters due to the distance and their own problems, and there is plenty of daylight left. As an interim measure, he orders the ship to evacuate her FAA personnel while he decides what to do.

The Captain of the Venerable informs him, as the evacuation is taking place, that he hopes to have the
fires under control in an hour or so (without fuel or explosives, there is a limited amount of inflammable material in the hanger), but that it seems unlikely the ship will be able to make more than 6 knots without the propellers dropping off.